His frank kindness, and the affectionate
earnestness of his speech and manner, gave the child a confidence in
him. She told him all--that they had no friend or relative--and that she
sought a home in some remote place, where the temptation before which
her grandfather had fallen would never enter, and her late sorrows and
distresses could have no place.
The schoolmaster heard her with astonishment, and with admiration for
the heroism and patience of one so young. He then told her that he had
been appointed clerk and schoolmaster to a village a long way off, at
five-and-thirty pounds a year, and that he was on his way there now. He
concluded by saying that she and her grandfather must accompany him, and
that he would endeavor to find them some occupation by which they
could subsist.
Accordingly next evening they travelled on, with Nell comfortably
bestowed in a stage-wagon among the softer packages, her grandfather and
the schoolmaster walking on beside the driver, and the landlady and all
the good folks of the inn screaming out their good wishes and farewells.
It was a fine clear autumn morning, when they came upon the village of
their destination, and every bit of scenery, and stick and stone looked
beautiful to the child who had passed through such scenes of poverty and
horror. Leaving Nell and her grandfather upon the church porch, the
schoolmaster hurried off to present a letter, and to make inquiries
concerning his new position.
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